Cantilevered Mezzanine for modular jail cell

ABSTRACT

A modular jail cell comprising a flat ceiling member connected to a front wall of the cell where a cantilevered mezzanine having a floor member is interconnected to the ceiling member at the junction of the ceiling member and the front wall.

The present invention relates to modular jail cells that are intended to be vertically stacked and horizontally joined to form a jail complex. In particular, each of the modular cells on a lower stack include a cantilevered mezzanine that provides a walk way for the line of cells stacked on top of the line of cells having the mezzanine.

BACKGROUND

Modular jail cells that accelerate and simplify prison construction and maximize shipping efficiency have been known for some time. Examples of prior disclosures of such structures are found in the U.S. patent to Lerner et al. entitled Modular Jail system and Method of Preparing the Same, issued Oct. 11, 1994, and U.S. patent to Richard J. Seavy, U.S. Pat. No. 7,178,298, for Structures Incorporating Interlocking Wall Modules, issued Feb. 20, 2007, U.S. patent to Richard J. Seavy, U.S. Pat. No. 7,318,300, for Modularized Jail Cell, issued Jan. 15, 2008, and U.S. patent to Richard J. Seavy, U.S. Pat. No. 10,323,405, for System for Connecting Structural elements of Prefabricated Jail Cells, issued Jun. 18, 2019.

The foregoing disclosures all anticipate that the individual modular cells, or pairs of cells, will be horizontally joined in side-by-side relation to form a line of interconnected cells and that a plurality of cell lines may be stacked, in or more stacks, to form a jail complex. When the lines of cells are stacked there must be provided a walk-way in front of each stacked cell to provide ingress and egress to the front door of each horizontally joined cell in the stack. Previously, the walk-way had to be constructed as a separate structural element from the cells themselves with supporting columns or posts.

Accordingly, it is the object of the present invention to provide a modular jail cell containing an integrally connected portion of the walk-way of the cell stacked immediately above it in the form of a mezzanine of the cell below. A further object of the invention is to eliminate the need for cantilever beams that are anchored in the cell by bolting the mezzanine to the existing structure of the cell. A further object of the invention is to provide a walk-way for upper cells in a stack of modular jail cells that requires no external supporting structure such as columns, posts or piers.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A modular jail cell that is intended to be a cell disposed below another modular cell in a stack of cells is provided with an independent mezzanine structure that is bolted to the normal ceiling/floor structure of the lower cell, thus providing a cantilevered platform for the cell stacked immediately above, which platform will be a portion of the walk-way in front of a horizontal line of modular jail cells that are stacked on top of a horizontal line of cells containing the cantilevered mezzanines.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a single modular jail cell with the attached cantilevered mezzanine.

FIG. 1A is a perspective view of an exemplary series of three modular jail cells, each with cantilevered mezzanines, joined side-by-side with a stacked series of modular jail cells, in order to demonstrate how the individual mezzanines of a lower series of cells become the walkway in front of the doors of the upper series of cells.

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view taken along lines 2-2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a detail of that portion of FIG. 2 that is enclosed with arrows and identified as 3-3.

FIG. 4 is a bottom view of the mezzanine structure for the cell module of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is cross sectional view of the mezzanine structure taken along lines 5-5 of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a bottom perspective view of the mezzanine structure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

A modular jail cell 2 with a cantilevered mezzanine 5 is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The modular cell includes a front wall 8, front door 9, side walls 10, a ceiling 12 and a rear wall 14.

FIG. 1A illustrates three of the modular cells 2, with mezzanines 5, connected in side-by-side relation and forming a lower row 16 of cells. An upper row 17 of modular jail cells 3, without mezzanines, is stacked on top of the cells in lower row 16. The individual cantilevered mezzanines 5 in the cells of the lower row form a walkway 19 when the cells 2 are joined side-by-side. Additional stacks of cells may be provided, in which event each level of the stack comprises modular cells 2 with mezzanines 5 except the top level whose cells 3 are the same in all respects as the lower level cells 2 except that the top level cells do not contain mezzanines 5.

The construction of the cantilevered mezzanine 5 is seen in FIGS. 4, 5 and 6. The mezzanine includes a front channel beam 20 and a spaced apart and mutually parallel back beam in the form of a rigid plate 22. The front channel beam 20 is covered with a front cover plate 23 that extends upwardly above the floor level. The front channel beam is interconnected with the back beam plate 22 by a plurality of spaced apart and mutually parallel stud channels 26 which are covered by a floor member 26 of open bar grate panels. Instead of bar grate panels the floor member could be flat plates.

One of the advantages and primary objects of the present invention is that the relevant structure in the modular cell that supports the cantilevered mezzanine is no different than the modular cell structure of a cell that does not carry a cantilevered mezzanine. The ceiling 12 of the typical modular cell comprises channel studs and interior and exterior covering and terminates on its front side with a U shaped channel 30 having a web 32, as seen in FIG. 3. The front wall 8 of the modular cell is similarly constructed of supporting channel members that are covered on the exterior side with steel plate 34.

Attachment of the cantilevered mezzanine 5 to the modular cell 2 is done without cantilever beams or similar structure. The mezzanine is simply bolted onto the ceiling 12 at two or more locations on top of the front wall 8, as shown in FIG. 3. Threaded bolts 36 pass through the back plate 22 of the mezzanine structure 5 and through an intervening extension 38 of the front wall cover plate 34 and through the web 32 of the terminating ceiling channel 30. Bolt engaging nuts 40 engage the bolts 36 and the nuts are also welded at 31 to the web 32. 

1. A modular jail cell comprising: a flat ceiling member, a front wall having a width and connected to the ceiling member, a cantilevered mezzanine comprising, front and back spaced apart and mutually parallel beams, a plurality of spaced apart and mutually parallel stud channels interconnecting the beams, a floor member covering the cantilevered mezzanine, and means for interconnecting the back beam to the ceiling member. 2-6. (canceled)
 7. The jail cell of claim 13 having interconnecting bolts that pass through the back beam, the intervening portion of the front surface plate and the web of the end terminating channel of the ceiling member.
 8. The jail cell of claim 7 and further including bolt engaging nuts which are welded to the web of the end terminating channel.
 9. A modular jail cell comprising, a rigid ceiling member having an end terminating channel, a cantilevered mezzanine comprising, a back beam having a longitudinal flat surface, a longitudinal front U shaped channel beam which is spaced apart from and mutually parallel with the back beam, a plurality of spaced apart and mutually parallel stud channels interconnecting the back beam and the front channel beam, a floor member covering the cantilevered mezzanine, a plurality of threaded bolts and bolt engaging nuts interconnecting the longitudinal flat surface of the back beam to the end terminating channel of the ceiling member. 10-12. (canceled)
 13. The jail cell of claim 1 where the ceiling member includes an edge channel having a web, where the edge channel is disposed over the width of the front wall and where the front wall includes a flat front surface plate, a portion of which intervenes between the web of the edge channel and the back beam of the cantilevered mezzanine member.
 14. A rectangular modular jail cell comprising: interconnected side, front and rear members. a ceiling member interconnected to the side, front and rear members wherein the ceiling member includes an end channel having a web, which channel is disposed longitudinally over the front member, a cantilevered mezzanine comprising a frame having a rear flat plate beam and a mutually parallel front channel beam, said front channel beam having an elongated flat plate disposed over and attached to the channel, wherein said elongated flat plate comprises a longitudinal top edge, and means interconnecting, in flush relationship, the rear flat plate beam and the web of the ceiling member channel.
 15. The modular jail cell of claim 14 and further comprising: a floor member covering the cantilevered mezzanine frame wherein the top edge of the elongated flat plate is disposed above the floor. 